Video Visitation at Queens Library

Video visitation is a free program offered at libraries across the city that connects a live video feed between participating library locations and NYC Department of Corrections facilities, allowing incarcerated New Yorkers to talk, read, and share stories together with their loved ...

History

In 1901, President L.H. Green of the New England Development and Improvement Company named Auburndale after his New England hometown. Previously the ninety acres had been the farm of Mr. Thomas Willet. Auburndale was born in 1901 as a housing development.

During the twentieth century, New York City experienced one of the most rapid population increases in history. With the railroad expansion and the creation of the city of Greater New York, Queens was no longer a backwater to the cities of Brooklyn and New York. Queens’ population grew steadily through to the 1940s. Bridges linked Queens to both Manhattan and the Bronx. After World War II, Auburndale’s population and demographics exploded. The GI Bill recipients coupled with immigrants fleeing post-war Europe flooded into Queens. By the 1960s, Auburndale did not look anything like a family farm.

The most dramatic changes occurred in the last two decades of the 1900s, from 1980-2000. As census records for 2000 show, the population of foreign-born immigrants has reached forty percent. Many of these speak a language other than English at home. High density housing is now the norm, replacing single family dwellings.

The library at Auburndale was established in the year 1930 when the developer of the area and the local Democratic Club provided space in the form of a store, rent-free. The library moved twice since then to rented store facilities on 32nd Avenue. City funds for the new branch were first approved in May 1964, and a Federal grant of $103,375 was approved in June 1966 under the Library Services and Construction Act. On October 20, 1969, A city–owned facility was opened at the present site in October 2010, after 4 months renovation, the modern high- technology Auburndale Library was reopened with fully RFID equipped and self-check in .machine.